A special court on Tuesday convicted a man for impersonating as CBI director, apart from cheating and extorting Rs 50 lakh from a businessman in 2011. Ashwini Kumar Sharma was sentenced to three years imprisonment by special CBI judge V P Desai via videoconference as Sharma is bed-ridden with 83 per cent disability due to an accident in 2020. The court suspended his sentence to file an appeal before the high court.
In February 2022, Sharma’s accomplice, Rajesh Ranjan, was also convicted and sentenced to three years in jail. The trial against Sharma was separated then due to his inability to remain present before the court. The two men are also facing a separate trial for allegedly duping filmmaker Rakesh Roshan and others.
Sharma was found guilty on charges including cheating and criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to submissions made by special public prosecutor, Sandeep Singh, summons were issued to a businessman by the Income Tax department in 2011. He subsequently contacted Ranjan to assist him with the case. Ranjan claimed to have close contact with CBI officers and got him to meet Sharma who was impersonating as the CBI director. The CBI had claimed that the two men had duped the businessman to the tune of Rs 50 lakh to settle the matter.
The court had last month directed the CBI to secure Sharma’s presence for pronouncement of the judgment. The Bombay High Court on Monday had permitted Sharma to appear via videoconference from Panipat in Haryana, taking into account his medical condition.